Solar panels in Polk County, FL

• Polk County is split among several utilities: Duke Energy Florida (about 142,000 accounts) and Tampa Electric (about 94,500) serve about 6 in 10 homes and businesses, while Lakeland Electric (about 138,500) and the cities of Bartow and Fort Meade run their own, per the Public Service Commission's Hurricane Milton report.
• Polk County takes building permit applications for unincorporated areas through its Accela Citizen Access portal.
• Duke Energy Florida's 2025 report to the Public Service Commission lists about 14,700 customer-owned solar systems on its lines in Polk County, about 1,900 of them connected in 2025, by our count, more than any other county Duke serves except Orange and Pinellas. See Florida solar by county.

Permits and zoning rules are set town by town. Highlights from each town's own rules:

• Auburndale: The City of Auburndale publishes its own solar photovoltaic permit guidelines and submittal checklist, and rooftop solar applications go to the city's permit office.
• Dundee: The Town of Dundee runs its own building department, which issues building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits under a fee schedule that runs from October 2025 through September 2027.
• Haines City: On April 21, 2025, Duke Energy put the count at about 4,000 customers without power on the east side of Haines City, with traffic lights out along U.S. 17/92.
• Winter Haven: Tampa Electric serves most of Winter Haven, while some annexed areas on the east side toward Dundee are in Duke Energy Florida's territory under the utilities' 2026 state-approved agreement, so check your bill.

Each town page has the full details and sources.

No. Under Florida law (s. 193.624), the value a solar system adds to a home isn't counted in its assessed value. If you're unsure whether anything needs to be filed, ask the Polk County Property Appraiser.

Solar equipment is also exempt from Florida sales tax, so it's already left out of the installed price.

Duke Energy and TECO credits the solar you send to the grid as a kWh credit at the full retail rate. Unused credits roll forward for up to 12 months, and anything left at year-end is paid out at only a few cents per kWh, so systems are sized to cover a year of use. Solar can't take a bill below the monthly minimum ($30 at Duke Energy, $13.50 at TECO).

See the full Duke Energy solar guide. See the full TECO solar guide.

Choosing a company? Check each installer's Florida license, compare at least two quotes and run them through our solar quote checker.